Deutz–Gießen railway
Encyclopedia
| Network of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company Cologne-Minden Railway Company The Cologne-Minden Railway Company was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.-Founding :The founding of the... |
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| Green | Deutz-Gießen Railway | 1859–62 |
The Deutz–Gießen railway is a line between Deutz and Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
that was built from the late 1850s to connect the Ruhr
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
and the Rhine-Main area, now parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. The line still exists, but little traffic still runs over the whole of the historical route. It now forms the northern part of the Sieg Railway between Cologne Deutz station and Betzdorf
Betzdorf, Germany
Betzdorf is a town and municipality in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is part of the district of Altenkirchen. Betzdorf is located on the river Sieg, approx. 15 km south-west of Siegen. Betzdorf is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Betzdorf...
, the Heller Valley Railway between Betzdorf and Haiger and the southern part of the Dill Railway between Haiger
Haiger
Haiger is a country town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The nearest city is Siegen, about 25 km north of Haiger.-Location:Haiger lies about 5 km west of Dillenburg, and 20 km southeast of Siegen on the eastern edge of the Westerwald range, near where the three states of...
and Gießen.
Interests
PrussiaPrussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
was interested in building a railway to connect the coal mines in the Ruhr, the steel mills in the Rhineland and the iron ore deposits in the Sieg, Heller, Dill
Dill (river)
The Dill is a long river, flowing through central Hesse in Germany. It is a tributary to the Lahn, joining it on the right bank at the town of Wetzlar.-Course:The Dill flows exclusively through the Lahn-Dill-Kreis district in Hesse...
and Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
valleys. Furthermore, Prussia wanted a better link between the town of Wetzlar
Wetzlar
Wetzlar is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn and is on the German Timber-Framework Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis on the north edge of...
and its environs, which was a Prussian exclave, and the Prussian Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
. Problems arose because the proposed line would run through the then independent Duchy of Nassau in the area that is now Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.-History:...
. The Duchy made it a condition for a concession to build the line on its territory that Prussia build a link with the Nassau State Railway
Nassau State Railway
The Nassau State Railway took over the privately built railway lines on the Rhine and Lahn rivers in the Duchy of Nassau from the Nassau Rhine and Lahn Railway Company in 1861 and extended them further...
’s Rhine Railway from Niederlahnstein to connect to the West Rhine Railway , which had been completed from Cologne to Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
in 1859. Prussia eventually agreed to the link between Niederlahnstein and Koblenz, including the Pfaffendorf Bridge
Pfaffendorf Bridge
The Pfaffendorf Bridge is the oldest bridge over the Rhine at Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It carries federal highway B 49 over the Rhine and connects central Koblenz with the suburbs of Pfaffendorf and Ehrenbreitstein. The first bridge was completed in 1864...
over the Rhine. In 1860 Nassau awarded a concession for the construction of the Sieg Railway through its territory. In Gießen, the Deutz-Gießen Railway would connect with the Main-Weser Railway
Main-Weser Railway
The Main-Weser Railway is the railway line in central Germany that runs from Frankfurt am Main via Gießen to Kassel and named after the railway company that built the line and also operated it until 1880. It was opened between 1849 and 1852 and was one of the first railways in Germany.- Route...
.
Construction
The Cologne-Minden Railway CompanyCologne-Minden Railway Company
The Cologne-Minden Railway Company was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.-Founding :The founding of the...
(Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME) obtained a concession to build the line from Deutz to Gießen. Construction started at a branch from the CME’s existing Deutz–Minden mainline
Cologne-Minden trunk line
The Cologne-Minden trunk line is a railway built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company . The line is the westernmost part of the railway line from Berlin to the Rhine that was proposed by Friedrich List in his Concept for a railway network in Germany, published in 1833...
at Deutz, which was subsequently connected to Cologne by a bridge over the Rhine
Cathedral Bridge
The Cathedral Bridge was a railway and street bridge crossing the river Rhine in the German city of Cologne. It was owned by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company and named after the Cologne Cathedral, which is located on the same longitudinal axis...
, completed in November 1859. At the same time, marshalling and shunting facilities were established nearby at Deutzerfeld, creating a direct link towards the Ruhr. The Deutz-Gießen line is affected by difficult topography. Between Siegburg and Betzdorf the line runs in the valley of the Sieg, running around tight loops, over many bridges and through many tunnels. East of Betzdorf to Dillenburg it had to cross a low mountain range (Mittelgebirge
Mittelgebirge
A Mittelgebirge is a relatively low mountain range, a typical geographical feature of Central Europe, especially Central and Southern Germany; it refers to something between hill country and a proper mountain range...
), requiring, among other things, a horseshoe curve to be built. The construction of the line cost 26.5 million thalers
Vereinsthaler
The Vereinsthaler was a standard silver coin used in most German states and the Austrian Empire in the years prior to German unification.- Introduction :...
. This meant that the cost of construction was 1,088,226 thalers per Prussian mile (7,532.5 metres). On the Cologne-Minden main line
Cologne-Minden trunk line
The Cologne-Minden trunk line is a railway built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company . The line is the westernmost part of the railway line from Berlin to the Rhine that was proposed by Friedrich List in his Concept for a railway network in Germany, published in 1833...
, costs were only 782,611 thalers per Prussian mile.
On 1 January 1859 the first section to Hennef was opened. The whole 183 km long line from Cologne to Gießen was completed on 12 January 1862. A branch line was built at the same time from Betzdorf to Siegen. The Betzdorf–Siegen line opened on 10 January 1861, following the arrival of the first locomotive from Betzdorf to Siegen on 28 December 1860.
Expansion
The line was fully duplicated by 1870. The Sieg flood of 1909 destroyed many bridges, including railway bridges, such as at Herchen.A major operational problem for the line at the time of its construction was that it was not possible to build a direct link between Siegen and Dillenburg. The Tiefenrother Höhe
Tiefenrother Höhe
Tiefenrother Höhe is a mountain of Hesse, Germany....
range (551 m high) lies in between. The construction of long tunnels in 1860 was still immensely complicated and expensive, because dynamite was not yet available. Siegen was connected by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company from the Ruhr to the north. Trains continuing south—including coal trains—had to go west to Betzdorf first, then reverse in the station (involving a move of the locomotive from one of the train to the other) and continue east towards Dillenburg.
This problem was corrected in 1915 when the direct connection between Siegen and Haiger was put into operation. The connection between Siegen and Dillenburg was shortened by about 30 km. This was made possible by three major engineering projects: the Niederdielfen viaduct, the Rudersdorf viaduct and especially the Rudersdorf tunnel.